The
Kathua rape case involved the abduction, gang rape, and murder of an 8-year-old Muslim girl,
Asifa Bano, by seven males (six men and a juvenile) in January 2018 in the Rasana village near
Kathua in
Jammu and Kashmir, India. A
chargesheet for the case was filed, the accused were arrested and the trial began in Kathua on 16 April 2018. The victim belonged to the
nomadic Bakarwal community, and the crime was a bid to terrorise the group off Jammu. She disappeared for a week before her body was discovered by the villagers a kilometer away from the village. The incident made national news when charges were filed against eight men in April 2018. The arrests of the accused led to protests by the
Panthers Party and other local groups, who sought justice for the victim. The gang rape and murder, as well as the support the accused received especially from local officials of the
Bharatiya Janata Party, sparked widespread outrage in India and world-wide.